Why did Jefferson have a Quran?

Question

Where did he get this Book?
Did Jefferson believe in the Muslim faith?

Answer 1

Because he knew the terrorists would be coming after this great country he founded, and wanted to get inside their heads first.

Answer 2

Jefferson's Quran was not original; it was translated into the American Language by a lawyer who wanted Jefferson to read for himself the 'evil ways' of Muslims.
Maybe Jefferson never read that Quran.
It's ironic that Democrat Keith Ellison swore on a Quran that was written just to show how 'evil' it is.

There's a new book 'Power, Faith and Fantasy' which tells all about Jefferson's Quran and the early US relations with the Muslims; it's very interesting.

Answer 3

Thomas Jefferson was a Deist who strongly believed that it was the right of all people to believe as they wished (thus he penned the Virginia Act of Religious Freedom, the forerunner to the religious part of the 1st amendment).

Jefferson also wrote a version of the 2nd book of the Bible in a Deistic style. You can find that at the link below.

Answer 4

Thomas Jefferson? He was a Unitarian Universalist (which back then was a denomination of the Christian church). I don't know about him having a Quran, but is it really that unheard of to have a book of another faith?
I know he wrote Jefferson's Bible, which I believe was his re-write of some parts of the Bible.

Answer 5

Jefferson had the book because he was about to advocate war with the Islamic Barbary states of Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripoli. Islamic pirate ships cruised the African and Mediterraean coastline. They captured ships and enslaved millions of Africans and tens of thousands of Europeans and Americans. It was typical of the Muslim pirates to kill off the non-Muslim older men and then just take young men, women and children. Young non-Muslim women were sold as concubines in Islamic markets. Boys as young as 9 or 10 were mutilated to create eunuchs who were then sold off in the Middle East. In 1784, to negotiate treaties with the Babary states the continental Congress appointed John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin as the the official representatives of America. Adams argued in favor of paying a tribute to the Barbary states for release of the Americans that had been captured and for assurance of safe passage of all American ships carrying on commerce in the Mediterranean. . By 1800 America had paid millions of dollars to the the Barbary States. The payment by 1800 amounted to 20% of the national treasury annually. At this point Jefferson had enough and declared war on the Muslims. The American fleet was sent to the Barbary coast and the US marines marched across Egypt into Tripoli and freed all American slaves. This effort is memorialized in the Marine Battle Hymn-"From the halls of Motezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we will fight our country's battles on the land as on the sea. " The Muslims were not defeated until 1815. Indeed, Jeferson had the Koran to know the mind of the enemy. You have a great evening!

Answer 6

While Jefferson may (or may not) have owned a quran, this does NOT mean that he denied or rejected the divine nature of Jesus. He was open to a LOT of different questions and explored a lot of issues...but it would appear that his "anchor" was essentially Christian.

No, Jefferson was NOT muslim.

Answer 7

In a thumbnail, nutshell, Muslim pirates or barbarians were attacking and plundering trade ships, American and English. Jefferson wanted to understand this enemy, how they think, what they believe, etc.. This is one of the main reasons America created a navy, to protect our trade ships from these pirates.

Answer 8

Thomas Jefferson was an 'intellectual' and he had many different books about many different subjects. I'm a 'Catholic' but I happen to own seventeen different translations of the 'Bible' plus a 'Book of Mormon' and a 'Koran' ... and I like 'reading' from them when I'm 'studying religion.' I also own a book on Taoism and have owned several on 'Hinduism' ...

Answer 9

Jefferson was an agnostic, and had just about every type of religious book available. He also tried to rewrite the bible to suit his own idea of God.

Answer 10

No, Jefferson was a Deist. He believed in a Supreme being but wasn't necessarily Christian. I think he was just interested in learning about other religions since he was an intelligent and wise man.

Answer 11

I am not sure where he got his quran but he used it to learn about the Muslim enemies. This was because of the slave trading and pirating going on in such places as Morocco and Tripoli.

May God Bless you.